Why do you run? Goals and motivation

Posted on 26/09/2011 Updated on 26/09/2011

People are motivated to run for fistfuls of reasons: weight loss, blood pressure or overall health and fitness. Some are lured in by another running enthusiast, or by the sheer challenge of setting goals and fighting to achieve them, be it a first 5km, 10km or a Marathon, or losing 5, 15 or 30 kgs.

Weight and health concerns helped me get in, and now that my health is awesome and my weight is great, I’ve learned to tweak my motivations.

While I am driven by a variety of things, the core of my running persona is laid bare when I am most discouraged in my running; when I have no concrete goal. The whole experience improves and my perspective brightens just by setting a goal (usually by signing up and paying for the next race) and then I begin working on the particulars of preparation: speed, endurance etc.

Even distant goals can be helpful, like the ultra-marathon distances I keep dreaming about or doing three marathons in 2012.

Right now, I’m working towards the extreme distances on one hand, wanting to achieve a sub 3:15 marathon, and straining to get my 10km times below 40 minutes on the other. Nike is putting on a Night Run in Tel Aviv November 1, and I am eagerly anticipating the fun atmosphere and the challenge of setting a new personal record.

I don’t find having goals restricting, but rather liberating and I still feel the freedom to hit the road and run for the sheer joy of running, regardless of what my training program says.

Because in the end, if I am running, it could only be good for me.